1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ground compacting apparatus, and more particularly, to apparatus for compacting the shoulder of a road.
2. Description of Related Art
In the construction and maintenance of roads, gravel and other materials are distributed along the shoulders of the roads. Since such shoulders are soft shoulders, and therefore should not be subjected to the weight of a vehicle, particularly before the thus-deposited material has not yet consolidated, it is desirable to compact this material by means of a vehicle travelling along the road but not along the shoulder.
Hither to, such road shoulders have not normally been compacted. In some cases, a grader wheel has been run along the shoulder, which has the disadvantage that the grader wheel caused a water rut. Some road construction contractors have made the shoulder higher than the pavement, and they have run a heavy compactor over the should, but this had the disadvantage that the compactor compacted the pavement more than the shoulder, thus causing damage to the pavement.